African Journal of Virology Research

ISSN 2756-3413

African Journal of Virology Research ISSN 3421-7347 Vol. 13 (2), pp. 001-004, February, 2019. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Evaluation of in vitro antiviral activity of a brown alga (Cystoseira myrica) from the Persian Gulf against herpes simplex virus type 1

Keivan Zandi1*, Moradali Fouladvand1, Parisa Pakdel1 and Kohzad Sartavi2

1Persian Gulf Health Research Centre, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran. P.O. Box 3631.

2Jahad Keshavarzi Research Centre, Bushehr, Iran.

Accepted 11 October, 2018

Abstract

The hot water extract of a brown marine alga, Cystoseira myrica, from the Persian Gulf was evaluated as an antiviral compound against KOS strain of HSV-1 in cell culture. The extract exhibited antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) not only during absorption of virus to the cells, but also on post attachment stages of virus replication. The water extract of C. myrica was sterilized by filtration and autoclaving, respectively. The IC50 for filtered extract was 99 µg/ml and the IC50 for autoclaved extract was 125 µg/ml. Based on resulted selectivity index (SI) values of the extracts, which were 33.4 and 28.2 for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively, we found that the antiviral compound(s) in the water extract of C. myrica to be heat stable. Also, the SI values for inhibition of the post attachment stages of HSV-1 replication were 23.1 and 21.7 for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively. The IC50 in this phase of study were 143 and 162 µg/ml for filtered and autoclaved extracts, respectively. Therefore, C. myrica could be a good candidate as a natural source for anti-HSV-1 compound(s) isolation.

Key words: Cystoseira myrica, HSV-1, antiviral, Persian Gulf.